IT’S LIGHTS OUT FOR RED-LIGHT CAMERAS

El Cajon cites cost, accident comparison

El Cajon 
Red-light cameras in El Cajon have been given the permanent stop sign.

Covered up by 10 tarps at seven intersections in the city since Feb. 27, the cameras are now history as the City Council voted 4-1 on Sept. 24, with Mayor Mark Lewis dissenting, to discontinue its red-light camera program.

Police Chief Jim Redman told the council that during the Police Department’s six-month study on the camera program, from Feb. 27 through Aug. 21, 39 collisions were reported at intersections where cameras had been shut down. That compares with 36 collisions at those same intersections during the same six-month period last year.

“That is statistically insignificant,” Redman said.

Collisions rose by about the same rate at intersections around the city where cameras have never been: 34 this year; 28 last year. Bob Warner, a spokesman for the company that installed the cameras, said that monitors in the intersections have detected an increase in vehicle speeds since the cameras have been shut down.

The system, which includes 10 cameras that were installed in 1996, has been expensive for the city – during 2011-2012, revenue from citations was $360,000.

Meanwhile, the camera operators, Redflex Traffic Systems, Inc., got $361,200. Redman said the city pays staff costs for public safety personnel to look over the citations. In short, El Cajon subsidized the red light cameras to the tune of $62,000 annually.

The city’s contract with Redflex was to expire in June 2014. Redflex stopped charging the city a monthly fee of $4,300 per camera once the cameras were covered.

Lewis said he wanted more time to look at further statistics comparing accidents at the sites of the cameras and said that preventing traffic accidents was more than just about money.

“If you have an accident and someone gets injured, you pay for it the rest of your life,” Lewis said.

Councilman Gary Kendrick said that in 2011, “Redflex turned over 10,500 red light violations to the city. After the police examined them, they determined 6,500 should be given citations... that totals nearly $3.2 million out of the local economy. And because of them, drivers pay increased insurance premiums, too.”

The average fine for running a red light in El Cajon is $490, plus $50 for traffic school. Fines paid by red-light runners are divided among the city, county and state. Violators typically receive citations in the mail within 15 days of the offense.

The cities of San Diego and Escondido axed their red-light camera program earlier this year.

“I think it’s an overreach of government, and costs our businesses,” Kendrick said. “People don’t like these red-light cameras. If we haven’t improved the safety then we don’t need them. Rather see us put that 60 thousand into in an officer on the street.”

Former city traffic engineer Trev Holman told the council that even though the increase in accidents was slight, it was still an increase. One El Cajon businessman whose store is near one of the cameras said he was losing customers due to concern of shoppers telling him they were unwilling to run the risk of getting a citation and so would not shop in the area.

“I still think this is the right thing for us to do,” Councilman Bill Wells said. “You have to look at costs vs. benefits. The cost is the freedom of our citizens, finances for our citizens, finances for our businesses, the overreach of government and police officers off the street... If you want more citations, then by all means let’s continue, give more citations to our citizens. But if we want to deal with public safety and less government overreach then have them taken down.”